Intravitreal bevacizumab for the treatment of macular oedema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin) injections on visual acuity (VA) and foveal retinal thickness in patients with macular oedema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion.Methods: A prospective, non-comparative, consecutive, interventional case series of 34 patients. Patients received repeated intravitreal injections of 1.25 mg bevacizumab. Main outcome measures were VA (Snellen charts and ETDRS) and retinal thickness (optical coherence tomography measurements) in a follow-up period of 6 months.Results: Patients presented at a mean age of 69 years (range 44--86). Mean duration of symptoms was 40 weeks (range 1--300). Mean (SD) VA at baseline was 0.79 (0.39) logMAR, improving to 0.51 (0.34) logMAR at 6 months (p = 0.009). Mean number of letters on the ETDRS chart at baseline was 45.3 (19.0), improving to 60.6 (19.9) at 6 months (p = 0.003). Mean (SD) retinal thickness at baseline was 474 (120) \textgreekmm, declining to 316 (41) \textgreekmm at 6 months.Conclusion: Intravitreal injection of 1.25 mg bevacizumb appears to be an effective treatment option for branch retinal vein occlusion

Keberadaan Mikroba Pada Bakso Ikan Asap Cair, Yang Dikemas Dalam Retortable Pouch, Dipasteurisasi Dan Disimpan Pada Temperatur Ruang

A research has been done to assess the presence of microbes and the shelf life of fish balls dipped in liquid smoke, packed in retortable pouch, pasteurized, and stored at room temperature. The method used in this research is an experimental method that revealed the facts based on existing problems through hypothesis testing. Parameters assessed are Total Plate Count (TPC), total Salmonella, total coliforms and E. coli, total vibrio, water content, and pH. Fish balls were pasteurized in 85ºC and stored in room temperature for 0, 3, 6, and 9 days, and were pasteurized at 100°C and storage in room temperature for 0, 9, 18, and 27 days. The results shown that all pathogen were negative, but based on Indonesian standard (SNI 01-7266-1-2006) especially TPC value, fish balls were packaged in retortable pouch and without pasteurized is no longer acceptable for consumption after 3 days of storage, and fish balls were packaged in retortable pouch and pasteurized at 85ºC no longer acceptable for consumed after 6 days of storage. While the fish balls are packaged in retortable pouch and pasteurized at 100°C is no longer acceptable for consumed after 18 days of storage. Keyword: Retortable Pouch, Pasteurization, Pathogens. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui keberadaan mikroba dan daya awet bakso ikan yang direndam dalam asap cair dan dikemas dalam Retortable pouch, dipasteurisasi, dan disimpan pada temperatur ruang. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode eksperimen untuk menguji hipotesa. Parameter yang diamati yaitu Angka Lempeng Total (ALT), Salmonella, total koliform dan E.coli, total vibrio, analisa kadar air, dan nilai pH. Bakso ikan asap cair yang dipasteurisasi pada 85ºC, disimpan pada temperatur ruang selama 0, 3, 6, dan 9 hari, dan yang dipasteurisasi pada 100ºC, disimpan pada temperatur ruang selama 0,9,18, dan 27 hari. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa bakso ikan yang dikemas dalam Retortable pouch, tanpa dipasteurisasi sudah tidak layak lagi untuk dikonsumsi setelah penyimpanan 3 hari, dan bakso ikan yang dikemas dalam Retortable pouch dan dipasteurisasi pada 85ºC sudah tidak layak lagi untuk dikonsumsi setelah penyimpanan 6 hari. Bakso ikan yang dikemas dalam Retortable pouch, dan dipasteurisasi pada 100ºC nanti tidak layak lagi dikonsumsi setelah penyimpanan 18 hari

Patterns of differential gene expression in adult rotation - resistant and wild - type western corn rootworm digestive tracts

692-704The western corn rootworm (WCR, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) is an important pest of corn. Annual crop rotation between corn and soybean disrupts the corn-dependent WCR life cycle and is widely adopted to manage this pest. This strategy selected for rotation-resistant (RR) WCR with reduced ovipositional fidelity to corn. Previous studies revealed that RR-WCR adults exhibit greater tolerance of soybean diets, different gut physiology, and host-microbe interactions compared to rotation-susceptible wild types (WT). To identify the genetic mechanisms underlying these phenotypic changes, a de novo assembly of the WCR adult gut transcriptome was constructed and used for RNA-sequencing analyses of RNA libraries from different WCR phenotypes fed with corn or soybean diets. Global gene expression profiles of WT- and RR-WCR were similar when feeding on corn diets, but different when feeding on soybean. Using network- based methods, we identified gene modules transcriptionally correlated with the RR phenotype. Gene ontology enrichment analyses indicated that the functions of these modules were related to metabolic processes, immune responses, biological adhesion, and other functions/processes that appear to correlate to documented traits in RR populations. These results suggest that gut transcriptomic divergence correlated with brief soybean feeding and other physiological traits may exist between RR- and WT-WCR adults

Effects of temporal variation in temperature and density dependence on insect population dynamics

Understanding the effects of environmental variation on insect populations is important in light of predictions about increasing climatic variability. This paper uses the univoltine western corn rootworm (WCR, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) as a case study and employs deterministic and stochastic modeling to evaluate how insect population dynamics is shaped by density-dependent survival and annual variation in temperature, which are key in regulating insect populations. Field data showed that larval survival varied significantly between years but was constant for a range of densities. Survival dropped only beyond a threshold density, a feature resembling generalized Ricker functions used in modeling density-dependent survival due to scramble competition for resources. We used soil temperature data for 20 yr to model annual variation in developmental time and survival. The deterministic model, where the developmental time was same across years, showed that though survival was high and did not change for a range of densities (i.e., density-independent survival), predicted densities were large enough that strong density dependence could occur in the field (i.e., predicted densities fall in the region where survival drops sharply) and that populations could exhibit stable equilibrium, cycles, etc. Interestingly, populations with lower density-independent survival were less likely to produce stable equilibrium compared to populations with higher density-independent survival. We found that population densities were at stable equilibrium when both mean developmental time and fertility were relatively low or when developmental time and fertility were relatively high. This in turn implies that, in warmer regions, where mean developmental time will be lower, stability is more likely for insect populations with low fertility; species in warmer regions will experience cyclical and unstable dynamics when fertility is high. While increase in the mean developmental time reduces overall survival, increasing variation in developmental time could increase mean survival, a consequence of the Jensen’s inequality, since survival was a concave decreasing function of developmental time. Hence, both mean and variability in temperature affect the dynamics of insect populations. Finally, we found that stochastic variation in soil temperature produced large variation in predicted population densities that could potentially enhance or diminish the effect of density dependence

Transcriptional responses of soybean aphids to sublethal insecticide exposure

Insecticides are a key tool in the management of many insect pests of agriculture, including soybean aphids. The selection imposed by insecticide use has often lead to the evolution of resistance by the target pest through enhanced detoxification mechanisms. We hypothesised that exposure of insecticide-susceptible aphids to sublethal doses of insecticides would result in the up-regulation of genes involved in detoxification of insecticides, revealing the genes upon which selection might act in the field. We used the soybean aphid biotype 1 reference genome, version 6.0 as a reference to analyze RNA-Seq data. We identified multiple genes with potential detoxification roles that were up-regulated 12 h after sublethal exposure to esfenvalerate or thiamethoxam. However, these genes were part of a dramatic burst of differential gene expression in which thousands of genes were up- or down-regulated, rather than a defined response to insecticides. Interestingly, the transcriptional burst observed at 12 h s declined dramatically by 24-hrs post-exposure, suggesting a general stress response that may become fine-tuned over time. Includes Supplementary Materials

African Easterly Jet: Structure and Maintenance

This article investigates the African Easterly Jet (AEJ), its structure and the forcings contributing to its maintenance, critically revisiting previous work which attributed the maintenance of the jet to soil moisture gradients over tropical Africa. A state-of-the-art global model in a high-end computer framework is used to produce a 3-member 73-year ensemble run forced by observed SST to represent the Control run. The AEJ as produced by the Control is compared with the representation of the AEJ in the European Center for Medium Range Forecast Reanalyses (ERA-40) and other observational data sets and found very realistic. Five Experiments are then performed, each represented by sets of 3-member 22 year long (1980-2001) ensemble runs. The goal of the Experiments is to investigate the role of meridional soil moisture gradients, different land surface properties and orography. Unlike previous studies, which have suppressed soil moisture gradients within a highly idealized framework (i.e., the so-called bucket model), terrestrial evaporation control is here achieved with a highly sophisticated landsurface treatment and with an extensively tested and complex methodology. The results show that the AEJ is suppressed by a combination of absence of meridional evaporation gradients over Africa and constant vegetation, even if the individual forcings taken separately do not lead to the AEJ disappearance, but only its modification. Moreover, the suppression of orography also leads to a different circulation in which there is no AEJ. This work suggests that it is not just soil moisture gradients, but a unique combination of geographical features present only in northern tropical Africa, which causes and maintains the jet